This crunchy red, white and blue salad is a festive addition to any menu. Apple, Fennel, and Radish Slaw with Pecans and Blue Cheese is a refreshing side dish to take to a picnic, barbecue, or potluck.
The warm summer weather calls for lots of salads . I love my creamy red potato salad, this sweet melon and fresh mozzarella salad, and a big chicken entrée salad.
This crunchy apple and fennel slaw is one of my favorite summertime salad side dishes. The unique combination of ingredients is a tantalizing mix of savory, sweet, salty and tangy-tart flavors.
Fennel tastes faintly like licorice. The sweet apples and blueberries, the spicy radishes and crisp celery are fruits and vegetables whose flavors complement each other.
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the ingredients
- lemon
- apple
- fennel and fennel fronds
- celery
- radishes
- blueberries
- toasted pecans
- blue cheese
- extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- pepper
Scroll down to the recipe for the full quantities of the ingredients.
how to keep apples from turning brown in salads
Adding apples to a salad can sometimes lead to an unpleasant browning of the sliced fruit.
A trick to keep the apple slices bright white is to add sliced apples to a bowl of cold water and the juice of ½ lemon. Swish the apples around in the liquid and let sit for a few minutes.
The citrus juice and water mixture evenly coats the apples without adding too much lemony flavor. The result is fruit that looks and tastes just as fresh as when it was cut.
how to make apple fennel slaw
As with most cold salads, no cooking is needed to make this crunchy apple fennel slaw.
Start out by soaking the matchstick sliced apples in cold water with a squeeze of ½ lemon.
Thinly slice the fennel, celery and radishes and place in a large bowl. Add the blueberries, pecans, and blue cheese.
In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil with the kosher salt and pepper. Taste this simple vinaigrette as you may want to add a little more salt and/or pepper.
Toss the fruit and veggies with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with some chopped fennel fronds. FYI ~ fennel fronds are the light and airy tops of the fennel bulb.
expert tips
- Pick the freshest available fruits and vegetables for the tastiest apple fennel slaw.
- Thinly slice the apple, fennel, celery, and radishes in matchsticks. This makes for the prettiest slaw that has lots of crunch.
- Substitute your favorite nuts for the pecans. I also love almonds or walnuts in this recipe.
- To toast the pecans, heat a small skillet over medium low heat. Add the nuts (nothing else is needed as they contain natural oils) and toast for 5 to 6 minutes. Shake the skillet occasionally so the nuts evenly brown and do not burn.
- Gorgonzola, goat cheese, Parmesan, or sharp cheddar are good substitutes for the blue cheese.
- Serve the apple fennel slaw can be immediately after making it. Or refrigerate the crunchy salad for up to 6 hours.
can the salad be made in advance?
The slaw's crunchy ingredients hold up well to sitting out on a picnic table or buffet. Make the apple fennel slaw early in the day so there is no last minute chopping. And the recipe can be easily doubled if serving a crowd.
just one more thing
If you make this delicious apple fennel slaw, I love hearing from you all.
Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ~ I do my best to reply to all your comments. And snap a photo to post to Instagram. I'll add the photos to my Insta stories as I love seeing all your creations.
Also check out my Facebook and Pinterest pages for lots of fabulous foodie stories and videos, cooking tips, and recipes.
Recipe
Apple, Fennel, and Radish Slaw with Pecans and Blue Cheese
Ingredients
- ½ lemon
- 1 medium apple quartered and thinly sliced about 1 cup
- 1 fennel bulb quartered and thinly sliced about 3 cups
- 2 celery stalks thinly sliced about 1 cup
- 4 radishes cut in half and thinly sliced about 1 cup
- 1 cup blueberries
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds
Instructions
- Fill a bowl with cold water and add the juice of the ½ lemon and the sliced apples. Set aside while the remainder of the salad is prepared.
- In a large bowl, combine the fennel, celery, radishes, blueberries, pecans, and blue cheese. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Drain the apples and add to the large bowl with the other fruits and vegetables.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle the chopped fennel fronds on top of the salad.
- Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours.
Notes
- Pick the freshest available fruits and vegetables for the tastiest apple fennel slaw.
- Thinly slice the apple, fennel, celery, and radishes in matchsticks. This makes for the prettiest slaw that has lots of crunch.
- To toast the pecans, heat a small skillet over medium low heat. Add the nuts (nothing else is needed as they contain natural oils) and toast for 5 to 6 minutes. Shake the skillet occasionally so the nuts evenly brown and do not burn.
- Gorgonzola, goat cheese, Parmesan, or sharp cheddar are good substitutes for the blue cheese.
- Serve the apple fennel slaw can be immediately after it is prepared. Or refrigerate the crunchy salad for up to 6 hours.
amycaseycooks says
This is a summertime favorite! Especially for the 4th of July!!